Tragedies, victims and the media: What to do

Olivia Bower
ob023312@ohio.edu

One of the main tenets of journalism is to find and report the truth. Most of the time, that requires journalists to go to any and all lengths to search out that truth. When dealing with victims of tragedy or disaster, though, reporters need to seek out the story in a more delicate manner.

Unfortunately, there are so many stories of reporters hounding families after homicides, other violent incidents, or natural disasters.

The media, acting distastefully, has sometimes harassed victims, their families, and even the families of perpetrators, like the daughter of serial killer BTK. In the case of Kerri Rawson, the daughter, Rawson said she was angered by media figures calling for information and later seeing her father’s pictures on CNN because that provided publicity that he did not deserve.

The media’s improper handling – improper according to Rawson – of this story led to the exploitation of BTK’s family and unnecessary emotional distress to the families of the victims. Imagine repeatedly hearing the gruesome facts of your loved one’s case and seeing the picture of the man who murdered him or her.

The coverage of situations like this needs to be respectful to those left behind. There’s a way to report the news without causing unnecessary harm to those with an emotional stake in the situation.

Content that triggers “symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in victims” should also be avoided. The media could, for example, refrain from using pictures from violent incidents as stock photos.

If someone continuously saw pictures of himself in a traumatic circumstance being used for related stories, that could be an emotional or physical trigger. Specifically, for example, if a young man was shot in a school shooting, and pictures of himself wounded showed up on the nightly news for a story about another shooting somewhere else, that could very well be a trigger.

Examples of trigger warnings from Justine Zwiebel/BuzzFeed via PS Mag.

That situation should not happen, especially at the hands of the media.

Though some people believe trigger warnings should be required, others take it a step further and advocate for the silencing of the media.

But if the media is censored, no one's story gets published. Then the public has no idea what's happening in the world, and without that knowledge, there's little room for change.

Trigger warnings and basic human compassion should take care of any potential problems brought on by the media. If we show compassion and allow victims to get their stories out there, instead of harassing them unceasingly, then the news will still get published.

Our main goal as journalists is to report the truth, but we are humans before anything else. When reporting on tragedies, we should show victims compassion and kindness. They will be more willing to help and share their stories than if we just repeatedly and rudely beat on their doors and demand they answer our calls.

There is a correct way to report on tragedies and disasters without making sources feel exploited or annoyed. We need to show them that they have control of their own story, that we genuinely care about them and that we will do our best to not shove their story back in their face in the times to come.